Sealing device for mechanical respirator



March 31, 1959 H. J. CYPHERS SEALING DEVICE FOR MECHANICAL RESPIRATOR Filed Nov. 15, 1957' 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I I 11111111111111l INVENTOR. C Y P H E E 5 HAROLD J.

QT'T'OPNEY March 31, 1959 H. J. CYPHERS 2,879,764

SEALING DEVICE FOR MECHANICAL RESPIRATOR Filed Nov; 15, 1957 r 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR: HAROLD J. CYPHEES FITTORNEK March 31, 1959 J CYPHERs 2,879,764

SEALING DEVICE FOR MECHANICAL RESPIRATOR Filed NOV. 15, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. HAROLD J CYPHEES HTTOFENEY United States Patent SEALING DEVICE FOR MECHANICAL RESPIRATOR Harold J. Cypher-s, Holcomb, N .Y.

Application November 15, 1957, Serial No. 696,648

6 Claims. (Cl. 128-30) This invention relates to sealing devices such as are used in mechanical respirators wherein pulsating air pressure is established by mechanical means in a portion of the device which encloses a human torso in order to cause expansion and contraction of the patients chest to sustain breathing of the patient.

The invention relates more particularly to means associated with such a pressure chamber for effecting a seal about the upper part of the torso or, i.e., in the general vicinity of the neck and chest of the patient enabling the patients chest to be expanded and contracted by the pulsating pressure while enabling the patients head to be outside of the pressure chamber. Although the device which constitutes the present invention functions in relation to a patients chest, as well as in relation to his neck, the device will hereinafter sometimes be referred to, for convenience, merely as a neck seal.

Such neck seals, heretofore provided in mechanical respirators, have usually been in the form of an annulus of sponge or foam rubber which, when the patient is in position in the respirator, extends closely about the patients neck. The principal disadvantages of such an annular neck seal are: (l) the discomfort of the neck seal to the patient because of the fact that the seal ordinarily fits quite tightly about the patients neck; (2) the fact that such an annular neck seal must be expanded by a suitable expanding device in order to enable the patients head to be pushed through the central opening therein in placing the patient properly in the respirator; and (3) such a neck seal, fitting closely about a patients neck, would prevent the performance of a tracheotomy while the patient is in the respirator and would press against a metal tube inserted in the patients trachea and cause severe irritation.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of an upper torso or neck seal for a respirator which avoids close confinement of the patients neck and thereby greatly minimizes possible discomfort on the part of the patient.

Another important object is the provision of such an upper torso or neck seal of such structure that the sealing effect across the front of the patient takes place chiefly across his chest rather than at his neck.

Another important object is the provision of such an upper torso or neck seal which includes means by which the seal may easily be opened up and held open to such a substantial extent that the patients head may very easily be passed through the seal in placing him in position in the respirator.

Another important object is the provision of such an upper torso or neck seal which affords space for performance of a tracheotomy while the patient is in the respirator and avoids irritation resulting from pressing of some part of the device upon a tube inserted in the patients trachea.

The foregoing and other more or less obvious objects are accomplished by the present invention of which two illustrativeembodiments are shown in the accompany- 2,879,764 Patented Mar. 31, 1959 ing drawings without, however, limiting the invention to those particular embodiments.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary, central, vertical, longitudinal sectional view of one end of a pulsating pressure chamber of a mechanical respirator including a preferred form of upper torso seal according to the present invention; this view also showing the upper portion of a patients body in proper place within the device with the seal in sealing position in relation to the neck and torso of the patient.

Fig. 2 is a view of a character somewhat similar to Fig. 1 but showing the patient in the process of being put into place in the device.

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the seal included ice in Figs. 1 and 2, as viewed from the outer side of the seal or, i.e., from the right side of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 isan end elevational view of the inner side of the seal.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the seal substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view substantially on the line 66 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is an outer end view of the seal as applied to a head end closure of the respirator.

Fig. 8 is a central, vertical sectional view of a modified form of seal according to this invention.

Mechanical respirators have been manufactured in various forms; hence, in showing certain parts of a respirator in Figs. 1, 2, 7 and 8, no attempt has been made to show those parts precisely as they appear in any particular type of respirator now in use, but they are shown quite generally or diagrammatically in relation to the upper portion of a patient and to a seal for effecting a substantially airtight seal about the upper part of the torso of the patient while enabling the patients head to protrude from the device.

Thus, in Figs. 1 and 2, there are shown, as parts of a respirator, a mattress support 10 and a pillow support 11, both as integral parts of a head end wall 12 which is supported by suitable legs 13. A fragmentarily shown cylinder 14, defining therewithin a pulsating-pressure air chamber 15, and an upper torso or neck seal 16, are also shown in said figures, said neck seal being circular in shape and held in place on the wall 12 by wing nuts and bolts 17 or equivalent fastening means (Fig. 7) engaging slotted lugs 18 provided at opposite sides of said seal. The cylinder 14 preferably has a suitably located top or side opening 19 covered in any suitable manner by a cover 20 which may be hinged at 21 to the cylinder 14 and may be held in its closed position, as shown, by a hand-operable clamp 22. The opening 19 should be so located as to enable one servicing or operating the device to have manual access to the interior of the cylinder 14 whereby to adjust the seal 16 properly, as hereinafter explained.

The cylinder 14 is suitably supported on legs 23, of which only one is fragmentarily shown, and those legs, as well as legs 13 of the end wall 12, are commonly provided with casters or wheels enabling the cylinder 14 and end wall 12 to be moved endwisely of the cylinder relatively to each other and to enable the entire respirator to be rolled along a floor. The mattress support 10 is suitably supported within the cylinder 14 for endwise movement into and out of said cylinder, and telescoping tubular guides (not shown) may be employed below said cylinder to guide such relative movement of the end wall 12 and the cylinder 14.

The respirator is provided with a suitable mattress 28 and a pillow 30 for the comfort of the patient. In addition to the showing of Figs. 1 and 2, the details of the upper torso seal 16 are shown in the other figures of the drawings. The seal 16, as illustrated, has a generally flat, approximately semi-annular neck rest or seal 32 of soft rubber or rubber-like material, such as sponge or foam rubber, which neckrest or seal is disposed in the lower half of the seal 16, being held in place by having its semi-circular outer margin clamped securely between-two rigid metal rings 34 and 36 having countersunk holes 38 therein within which rivets 39 are provided to hold said two rings. securely clamped together.

The upper'half of the seal includes a canopy 40 of substantially impervious sheet-rubber or'equivalent im pervious flexible material, the sheet-rubber constituting said canopy having a semi-circular. margin which is clamped between the upper halves of the rings 34, 36..

As the sheet-rubber of the canopy is thinner than the clamped marginal portion of the neck rest or seal 32, a suitable semi-circular filler piece 42 is clamped with the mentioned sheet-rubber between the upper halves of the rings 34, 36 in order to impose proper clamping pressure upon the mentioned sheet-rubber. To oppose or minimize collapse of the canopy 40 with pulsations of the air in the cylinder 14, said canopy may advantageously have one or more semi-circular wire supports 43 or equivalent supporting means embedded therein; one such support being indicated in broken lines in most figures of the drawings.

The sheet-rubber constituting the canopy 40, if it were unwrinkled and extended as completely as possible, would be approximately in the form of a quarter-sphere. The margin of this quarter-sphere, remote from the previously mentioned semi-circular margin thereof, is clamped between two semi-circular bands 44 which preferably are held together by a series of rivets 46 which pass through adjacent marginal portions of the canopy 40. At their extremities, the semi-circular bands 44 are pivotally connected by rivets 48 to lugs 50 which are clamped between rings 34, 36 at opposite side points thereof so that the bands 44 may swing between a fully raised position, as shown in Fig. 2, and a somewhat loweredor sealing position, as shown in Fig. 1.

Also clamped between the bands 44 and held by the rivets 46 is the upper margin of an approximately semicylindrical sealing member 52 of sponge or foam rubber, or equivalent material. Toward its opposite ends the sealing member 52 is airtightly bonded suitably to upper side portions of the neck rest or seal 32, as shown in Fig. 6, and the approximately semi-circular free edge of the sealing member 52 is thereby established in substantial continuity with the neck rest or seal in such manner that the sealing member 52 effects a seal across the patients chest, as shown in Fig. 1, while the neck rest or seal effects a seal around the back of the patients neck.

Means are provided for holding the bands 44 and the sealing member 52 in their raised position shown in Fig. 2, which means function also to hold said bands and sealing member in their lowermost or sealing position,

as shown in Fig. 1. The mentioned means comprise two rigid arms 54, 56 pivotally joined by a bolt and wing nut 58, and the ends of said arms, respectively, are pivotally connected to a lug 60 suitably fixed approximately to the center of the bands 44 and a lug 62 suitably fixed to the metal rings 34, 36 at the top thereof.

In the use of the device, pivotal wing nut and bolt assemblies 64 on the cylinder 14 are loosened and swung sidewisely from within slots 66 in end wall 12, whereafter the latter is pulled away from the cylinder 14, thereby withdrawing the supported mattress 28 from within said cylinder. The operator then sees that the bands 44 are in their uppermost position, as in Fig. 2, and tightens them in that position by tightening the wing nut 58; the member 52, in that position, being somewhat stretched, as may be observed from the mentioned figure. Then, the patient is placed upon the mattress and is slid upwardly thereon so that his head passes 4 through the seal 16 between the neck rest or seal 32 and the then-raised cylindrical sealing member 52 and reaches a position in which it may rest upon the pillow 30.

During the passing of the patients head through the seal, the neck rest 32 may be held downwardly by the operator either manually or by the use of a suitable spreading device, although, even if this is not done, the patients head may pass through the seal 16 quite easily and with little or no annoyance to him. The neck seal 32, of course, is released after the patient has been properly positioned in the device, whereupon the neck rest or seal lightly and comfortably engages the back and side of the patients-neck. After 'thepatient is positioned comfortably with his head upon the pillow 30, the operator releases the wing nut 58 and then pivots the bands 44 downwardly to bring the bottom or sealing edge of the cylindrical sealing member 52 down lightly upon the patients chest and in position to extend somewhat across the front of the patients shoulders. After having achieved this positioning, of the sealing member 52, the operator retightens the wing nut 58 to hold the parts in their positions shown in Fig. l of the drawings. Then the end wall 12 is pushed back into engagement with a gasket 68 on the near end of the cylinder 14, after which the latter and the end wall 12 are locked together by suitable manipulation of wing nuts and bolts 64. The opening 19 enables further adjustment of the neck seal, if necessary, without again separating the end wall 12 from the cylinder 14.

It will be understood that an uninterrupted sealing etfect with the patients neck and chest is achieved by the neck seal 32 and the semi-cylindrical chest seal 52 and that no part of the seals 32 or 52 is in engagement with the.

front of the patients neck where such engagement would cause considerable discomfort to the patient. The present invention, thus, aifords a greater degree of comfort than can be had with prior neck seals.

It will also be seen from Fig. 1 that, when the patient is in the respirator, his neck is accessible for the performance of a tracheotomy and a tube extending into his trachea will not be pressed against to any material extent by any part of the neck seal, so that he will suffer no discomfort in that respect.

The embodiment illustrated in Fig. 8 differs from the first-described embodiment chiefly in the omission of adjusting arms 54, 56 and in the substitution of torque springs 70 so associated with each of lugs 50 and the bands 44 as normally to urge the latter and the semi-circular sealing member 52 toward the patients chest and to hold said member yieldably against the patients chest. When the patients head is being slid through the neck seal in placing him in the respirator, a strap 72, suitably anchored atone end to rigid ring 36 and having fastening means 74 at its other end, may pass through and about the canopy 40, bands 44 and sealing member 52 and, by said fastening means, be fastened to rigid ring 34, as illustrated in broken lines in Fig. 8, to'hold the mentioned parts 40, 44 and 52 up while the patients head -is passing through the'seal. After the patient is properly positioned, the strap 72 is unfastened and suitably tucked aside, leaving the springs 70 to hold the sealing member 52 in sealing engagement with the patients chest.

It should be apparent that the disclosed concepts may be utilized in various other ways without, however, departing from the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim: I

l. A sealing device for a mechanical respirator comprising a substantially semi-annular neck rest having an outer marginal portion adapted for airtight association with I a part of a neck opening ofa pulsating-pressure air rest, having a first marginal portion: adapted for airtight association with another part of said neck opening and complementing said marginal portion of the neck rest to effect a circumferentially continuous seal of the sealing device with said neck opening, and said canopy having a second marginal portion connected to said neck rest and adapted to engage the patients chest to effect a seal thereacross and to form with said neck rest a seal, with the patient, which extends uninterruptedly about the latters neck and chest.

2. A sealing device for a mechanical respirator comprising a substantially flat, semi-annular neck rest and a sealing canopy extending laterally of the neck rest; outer marginal portions of the neck rest and canopy being adapted to efiect a circumferentially continuous seal with a neck seal opening in a respirator and inner marginal portions of the neck rest and canopy being adapted to effect an uninterrupted seal about the back of the neck and across the front of the chest of a patient in said respirator, said canopy being approximately quarterspherical and having a substantially semi-cylindrical sealing member at the margin of the canopy which is adapted to face a patients chest, said semi-cylindrical sealing member being connected, at its ends, to said neck rest and forming with the latter a continuous sealing surface adapted to engage about the back of the neck and the front of the chest of a patient.

3. A sealing device according to claim 2, further including a rigid ring to which said outer marginal portions of the neck rest and canopy are airtightly fixed and a semi-circular band to which adjacent edges of said canopy 6 and said semi-cylindrical sealing member are fixed; said ring being adapted to be fixed at a neck opening of a mechanical respirator, and the ends of said band being pivotally connected to opposite sides of said ring to permit pivotal shifting of said semi-cylindrical sealing member relatively to a patients chest.

4. A sealing device according to claim 3, further including an adjustable linkage between said ring and said band to facilitate adjustment of the position of said semicylindrical sealing member relatively to a patients chest.

5. A sealing device according to claim 4, said linkage comprising a pair of pivotally interconnected arms, said pair being pivotally connected to and between a top portion of said ring and an intermediate portion of said band, and further including releasable means at the juncture of the two said arms for holding said band in an adjusted position in relation to said ring.

6. A sealing device according to claim 3, further including spring means connecting with said rigid ring and said band to urge the latter continuously toward the patients chest.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,678,646 Bruner et a1 May 18, 1954 2,755,797 Lowenstern July 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 686,353 Great Britain Jan. 21, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION 9 !Patent No. 2,879,764 March 31, 1959 Harold J. Cypher-s 1 i It is herebfi certified that error appears in the-printed specification f the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters iatent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 19, for 'conne'cting" read coacting Signed and sealed this 7th day of July 1959.

l i I SEAL) ttest:

ARL H. AXLINE Commissioner of Patents 

